The waterproof capabilities of these cameras have been pretty good from day-one. So long as you stay within the specified depths and times, and realise the AF may be relatively slow, the screen sometimes tricky to see and the flash only illuminate a short distance, then you’ll be fine.

Pentax has announced a price drop of its 14.6 megapixel flagship K20D. The new lower price is $999.95, which is a steal given the feature set and image quality packed into this DSLR. For more on the K20D, check out Photography Bay’s Pentax K20D Reviews and Resources.

Additionally, the waterproof Pentax Optio W60 is receiving a price cut to $299.95.

Press Release

PENTAX Imaging Company has announced significant savings on its flagship, award-winning digital SLR. Beginning Sunday, October 12, 2008, the price of the PENTAX K20D digital SLR camera body has dropped to $999.95. The full-featured, 14.6 megapixel, weather-resistant DSLR features a three-step dust reduction system, the PRIME image processor, fully customizable capture and control settings, and PENTAX developed Shake Reduction that works with any of the 25 million PENTAX lenses ever manufactured. More details are available at www.pentaxslr.com.

PENTAX also reduced the price of the popular, rugged and waterproof PENTAX Optio W60 digital camera to $299.95. Lightweight and fully waterproof, the Optio W60 features 10 megapixels and a 5X zoom lens with 28mm wide-angle capability. The Optio W60 operates up to 13 feet underwater for two hours and at extreme temperatures well below freezing. More details are available at www.h20camera.com.

The Pentax takes the worry out of these situations, and for many users that’s going to be worth a few extra dollars compared to a less rugged camera with otherwise similar features. Image quality is adequate if not outstanding, but good enough for the point-and-shoot task at hand.